In this episode of The Evangelism Podcast, I interview South Korean evangelist Dr. David Chung. He shares how he felt called by God to preach the gospel around the world, despite growing up in poverty in South Korea. We explore the role of prayer and revival in the growth of the Korean church, as well as the challenges facing the younger generation. If you have been wondering where the Asian evangelists are, you will want to listen to this episode.
Learn more about David Chung: https://dcmi.org/
Summary:
David Chung is a South Korean evangelist who had a strong calling to preach the gospel throughout the world, starting from his teenage years [0:34]. He believed God wanted him to reach the ends of the earth with the gospel [1:16].
Chung shared that in the late 1970s and 1980s, the South Korean church experienced rapid growth, with the Christian population growing four times faster than the natural population [16:49]. This was attributed to the fervent prayer life of Korean Christians, who held early morning prayer meetings daily and faithfully shared the gospel with their neighbors [16:49].
Chung believes God is calling for more Asian evangelists to rise up and reach their continent for Christ [9:57]. He encourages young evangelists in Asia to step out in faith, as God will provide for them if they are called [12:35]. Chung also mentioned that he is willing to help coach and mentor young Asian evangelists through his ministry, DCMI (David Chung Ministries International) [10:36].
Transcript:
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
Welcome to the Evangelism Podcast. I’m Daniel King. I’m excited about telling people about Jesus. And today I have a very special guest with me, Dr. David Chung. Thank you for being on the Evangelism Podcast. Well, my honor, now I’m excited to talk to you because we are here in South Korea and you are a South Korean evangelist. All righty. And I have been praying that God would raise up more Asian evangelists. So let’s start at the beginning. How did you know that you were called by God to be involved in evangelism?
Evangelist David Chung (00:34):
So two stories. I became a Christian in 1978, I think I was sixth, seven, eight, ninth grader. And I experienced a drastic conversion at a revival meeting. And then after that I began to read the Bible, pray every day. And then my faith began to grow. And I knew that God called me not only for Korea, but go to the ends of the world and preach the gospel. But Korea at the time was a poor country. My dad was making $20 a month, but God speaking to me, you got to go to the ends of the earth and preach the gospel. And I’m going, God, no kidding. Make a long story short, the burden heaven was laid upon my heart. So I bought a world mat, put it on one side of the wall of my bedroom, which was my grandma’s bedroom, and which was my brother’s bedroom.
(01:34):
As well prayed. I looked at the world map in the morning. At night, prayed that God will send me to the ends of the earth. And then I kept studying English. And throughout my high school, three years of high school, we had six English textbooks, and I memorized all textbooks. And then I went to a Baptist college and the college sent me to the United States for my education after that seminary, on and on and on, and I became a pastor. That’s the beginning point of going to the ends of the earth to evangelize the world. And then the second more direct story, as a pastor, I joined youth with a mission, received training and went to Ukraine for field ministry. About two months and a half later, while I was reflecting upon my ministry there, I felt like the Lord was speaking to my heart, David, I want you to come back to this part of the world and help lead half a million people into God’s kingdom.
(02:52):
And I said, God, you got the wrong man. I’m not a Billy Graham. I think I can lead 500, but not 500,000. But the Lord spoke to me. David, out of your two months plus time of ministry here, what was the greatest weakness of the Ukrainian church? And I saw pastors, not that the pastors are rotten or lazy or anything. Out of 70 plus years of the Soviet Union days, all the theological institutions were destroyed. Churches were destroyed. And what little pastors that they had after the fall of the Soviet Union, the gospel came, evangelists came, missionaries came. These young people became Christians steward. So they were praying and they were sharing the gospel faithfully. So the pastors ordained them and let ’em pastor churches without any theological education. So when my translator was translating their sermons, boy, it was like a book of acts without any education.
(04:09):
The level of their preaching was not here, but it was here. I was amazed. But because they did not receive any education, it was not up there. And then they could preach, but they didn’t know how to run the church, how to run church programs. So I felt like the Lord was speaking to my heart, David, is it possible for one man, one pastor, to reach out to 500 people? And I said, what Father? I mean, no, no. He said, do you think it’s possible for one pastor to reach out to 1000 people? I said, father, that’s possible. In Korea, there is a church that has 800,000 members.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:54):
A
Evangelist David Chung (04:54):
Church of 1000 is possible. And he said, David, if you can come back and train 500 pastors who can reach out to 1000, respectfully, that’s 500,000. I said, father, I can do that. So I went back and my friends invited me for dinner, and they said, David, when you come, if there is anybody you want to bring with you, you can do that. So I invited another friend of mine to go there to have dinner with a nice meal. They asked me about my Ukraine experiences, and out of all that conversation and pleasant visit, they handed me an envelope that had $50,000.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:37):
Wow.
Evangelist David Chung (05:37):
And they said, David, start your ministry with this. And I was shocked. And the lady
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:43):
That I feel like that’s a sign from God.
Evangelist David Chung (05:45):
Yeah, you have the gift of spiritual discernment. And the lady that came there with me, she was also shocked. She said, I did not know this meeting was that. And I said, neither did I. She said, David, I’m so touched, I want to give you 10,000. And those people became the first board members of the CMI.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:08):
Wow. So what year was that that you
Evangelist David Chung (06:11):
Started? 2002.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:13):
And what are some of the highlights of the ministry that you’ve seen God do since 2002?
Evangelist David Chung (06:18):
So I started the ministry in Eastern Europe. So God sent me to Ukraine, Russia, Romania, some of those Eastern European countries. And then through Luis Paal and Team Rob net, God sent us to Africa. And then we’re serving there, here and there doing mass evangelism, developing leaders, pastors. And then God sent us to Myanmar. That was the exactly 200th year ever since. Adam just brought the gospel to Myanmar. Whatever we did then was the largest meeting ever held in the 200 years of church history in Myanmar. Wow. So that was a shocker. I’m in woods.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:09):
Is that this picture here?
Evangelist David Chung (07:10):
No, no, that’s in Cambodia.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:12):
Oh, this is Cambodia.
Evangelist David Chung (07:12):
That was last year, but that Myanmar was 2013. Yeah, that’s over 10 years.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:19):
Wow.
Evangelist David Chung (07:19):
That’s not the story. Real story is this. They wanted us to come back and do it again the next year. I said, no, they were shocked. No, all the churches and Christians are excited. They want you to come back. In fact, they’re asking that you come every year and do it. And I said, absolutely. No, this is the reason. Why did we have so many people? We had a long process of preparation, trained local believers for evangelism and everything, but if we do that every year, the system will make it happen without evangelism. So I said, no, I’m not doing that. That’s going to be a big meeting for the sake of big meeting without evangelism. I don’t want that. So they were frustrated. They invited a Norwegian evangelist A couple of years later. They had about the size of crowd that I had. And then about 2000 came to Christ around meeting about 2000 accepted Christ. And then a year later, Franklin Graham came. Our record just, it shattered. And Franklin, he did a great job. So I was so proud of the local leaders that year I went there for pastor’s conference. So some of those leaders came to the airport, they received me. And I said, Hey guys, you guys have done a great job. I read all about Franklin’s record. And every,
(08:52):
Their answer was stunning, Dr. Chong. The only reason why we were able to do that is because three years ago you came and you gave us vision. We never had.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:09):
You really broke the ice.
Evangelist David Chung (09:11):
And
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:11):
Then there became possible for God to do so much more there,
Evangelist David Chung (09:15):
If that’s what it was. And that’s what it meant. What an honor.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:19):
I was so humble when I heard that. Now, a little bit ago, you mentioned the large church here in Korea with 800,000 people, though church. Exactly. With David Yonggi Cho, who was a great pastor, obviously built one of the largest churches, probably the largest church in the world. But recently I was at their church and they have a little display of his life. And I saw pictures of young Cho preaching in front of big crowds in many different countries. And I could see that he was not just a pastor. He also had a gift for evangelism. Oh, absolutely. There’s very much an evangelist.
Evangelist David Chung (09:56):
Absolutely.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (09:57):
Yeah. But other than that, I haven’t heard of many big evangelists coming out of Asia. United States has lots of big evangelists. You have some wonderful evangelists in South America. Africa has good evangelists. But I believe that the greatest harvest of history will happen here in Asia. If you just look at the 10 40 window. And so I think that God wants to raise up more Asian evangelists.
Evangelist David Chung (10:26):
What
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:27):
Would you say to maybe South Koreans or other people here in Asia who feel a gift for evangelism? What would you say to encourage them?
Evangelist David Chung (10:36):
Well, contact me. I’ll provide any help I can give you
Evangelist David Chung (10:43):
To
Evangelist David Chung (10:43):
Help you shape yourself as an evangelist. I want to develop you. But traditionally, not only in Korea, but in Japan, in any Asian countries, evangelism has been done by pastors. So in the church, they have this position called evangelists, but they are paid by the church, very little salary. And they are traveling to share the gospel for the church, not necessarily independent evangelists raising funds. In reality, in this country, raising fund is almost impossible. I guess that’s one of the reasons why they do that. Even Reinhardt Monkey, he’s a German wealthy country, but he has an American, a citizenship. Citizenship. This is what he said. The only reason why I’m living in the United States is because fundraise is almost impossible, even in Europe. That’s why he’s living in the States.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:49):
But yet the church here in Korea has a lot of money. I mean, we’re here at, so
Evangelist David Chung (11:53):
Church,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:54):
It’s a beautiful facility, goes six stories underground, 13 stories up, two different towers. And it’s just a beautiful facility. And traditionally, the church here in South Korea has two things. They’ve done very well.
Evangelist David Chung (12:09):
They’re
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:09):
Very good with prayer, and they’re very good with missions. The South Korean Church has sent out so many missionaries. And so there’s a heart for missions. Exactly. I believe that God wants to also put a heart for evangelism in the Korean church. And I think that God will provide, I mean with vision, God will
Evangelist David Chung (12:28):
Provide
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:29):
Absolutely. Provision Paul’s vision. I think it God raises up evangelists with vision.
Evangelist David Chung (12:34):
Absolutely.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:35):
That the provision will come.
Evangelist David Chung (12:35):
That’s what I experienced. If you feel called and you go out by faith, God will provide so young evangelist or anybody who has a vision for that. Don’t you wait until, don’t you complain because your pastor is not supporting you. Go out there by faith, and the Lord will provide, if he called, then he will provide for you.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:59):
Amen. And so you mentioned you willing to help evangelists here in Asia. What is your website? How can people get in touch with you?
Evangelist David Chung (13:06):
BCMI for David Chung ministries international.org.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:13):
Okay. So if you’re a young evangelist, especially an Asian evangelist, reach out to Dr. Chung and he wants to help you out. So what a blessing.
Evangelist David Chung (13:22):
Can I say one more thing? Yes. I met a young man going to Wheaton graduate school. He has a heart for evangelism. He’s from Hong Kong. Just because he came from Hong Kong, I assumed that he was a Chinese man, but he’s an American man. There’s a long story, but he grew up in Hong Kong. But anyway, I came to know him, and he says, my vision is to feel the Olympic Stadium in Hong Kong with teenagers and preach the gospel.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:00):
Wow.
Evangelist David Chung (14:00):
So I have a coaching called with him once a month.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:04):
Wow.
Evangelist David Chung (14:05):
So yeah,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:07):
I pray that will come to pass.
Evangelist David Chung (14:08):
Amen.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:09):
Amen. Amen. The church must get ready.
Evangelist David Chung (14:12):
Amen.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:13):
You have North Korea that needs to be evangelized. China, Laos, Vietnam. We have Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, all of these countries here in Southeast Asia where there are millions of people that need Jesus.
Evangelist David Chung (14:36):
Amen to that.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:37):
Now, did you do your doctoral work with Tim, Dr. Tim Rodnick?
Evangelist David Chung (14:40):
No, no, no,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:42):
Because I took some classes with him.
Evangelist David Chung (14:44):
Okay. No, not at all. I went to Southwestern Baptist Theological. It’s a BAP seminary.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:50):
Was the focus of your evangelism?
Evangelist David Chung (14:52):
No, I have a PhD in Old Testament. I’m an Old Testament scholar.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:56):
Okay.
Evangelist David Chung (14:57):
Wow. Yeah. Well, actually, this is how I ended up studying Old Testament. I love the Bible. I wanted to study Old Testament. And then in reality, I wanted to become an evangelist. I wanted to study evangelism. And then I thought, well, I mean, this is because of Asian background. Evangelism is something you do not something that you study to get a PhD degree. So I decided to study Old Testament, then study evangelism. So I studied something else, but this is what I’m doing.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:34):
Yeah. What lessons do you bring from the Old Testament to evangelism?
Evangelist David Chung (15:38):
Well,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (15:38):
There’s some great examples. In Old Testament,
Evangelist David Chung (15:40):
My evangelism professor, Dr. Roy Fish, Southern Baptist, is all about discipleship, expository preaching. That’s Southern Baptist. But in his history of spiritual awakening class, he says, churches, we have to faithfully share the gospel. We have to faithfully make disciples. But churches do not grow like that. Great revival comes and churches grow. And he says, I can tell you throughout the Old Testament where there was a mighty revival, people of God came to God. They repented throughout their sin, throughout the idols, and they came to Christ. So great lesson, we can learn from the Old Testament, obey the Lord, be faithful to his promise, to his covenant, and go on by faith.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:38):
Amen. Now, the South Korean church, it’s so good at prayer. Talk to me about the link between prayer and evangelism. How do they work together?
Evangelist David Chung (16:49):
My goodness. There was a war in Korea that lasted for three years. So whole land was devastated. 1953, after the war was over, the United Nations sent South Korean economy restoration team, and they did a survey, and they were shocked at the fact that with an average annual income of $37, South Korea was the poorest country in the world. So at the time, we had 1 million Christians. They always prayed. Everything was devastated. The only open access they had was there. So they prayed. A Korean church is known for early morning prayer meeting. So every day at 4:30 AM people came to church and prayed. They didn’t know how to pray eloquently. All that they say goes, would you bless this country? Would you bless this suffering people? Lord, you are blessing. God bless us. And then they believed in the power of the gospel, transforming the hearts of people. So they faithfully share the gospel with their unbelieving neighbors. 10 years later, in the 1960s, the number of Christians doubled from 1 million to 2 million. They kept praying, Lord, we are poor. We are suffering. Bless this country. And they faithfully share the gospel. 10 years later, in the seventies, the church Christians doubled again from 2 million to 4 million. What is fascinating, the government census shows that in the decade of 1970s, Christian population grew four times faster than natural population.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:44):
Wow.
Evangelist David Chung (18:45):
And then
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:46):
It’s one of the great miracles of the church.
Evangelist David Chung (18:48):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, in 2000 years of church history, Korean Church, Ruth Marks one chapter. Yeah. So, prayer, evangelism, passion, your passion will not be found unless you pray.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:09):
What was causing church growth during that time in Korean history? Was it one-on-one, evangelism,
Evangelist David Chung (19:16):
Revival, and one-on-one all combined together? It’s not either or. So this is what I learned from my missions professor back in a D eight. He professionally came to Korea to share the gospel linked with the 88 Solo Olympic game.
(19:37):
He was here for two weeks. He came back in the fall semester. He says, my goodness, I have never experienced anything like this. I landed at the airport, got on a taxi and asked the driver to take him to a certain hotel. He said, I doubted if I could communicate with the taxi driver, but Korean government provided English lessons for the taxi drivers. So they began to have a conversation in English. This taxi driver says, sorry, do you believe in Jesus here? So what in the world is going on? And then he began to share the gospel. I mean, the taxi driver began to share the gospel with this guy. And then he walked into the hotel at the front desk. The guy says, sir, do you believe in Jesus? He’s going, wow. What’s going on here? And then he went Shopping, shopping malls. The people that are working there, they’re going to know Jesus. So I don’t know where, sadly, sadly, that passion is gone now in the South Korean Church. That passion for prayer, that fire,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (20:58):
I think there’s a great, great challenge with the young people here that have not kept the faith of their parents,
Evangelist David Chung (21:06):
Just like the United States.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (21:07):
Yeah. Well, let’s finish by praying for two things. Let’s pray first for the harvest fields of Asia, that many people would come to know Jesus.
Evangelist David Chung (21:19):
Amen.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (21:20):
And then let’s pray for many evangelists to be raised up here in Asia.
Evangelist David Chung (21:24):
Amen.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (21:25):
And would you lead us in prayer?
Evangelist David Chung (21:27):
Father, I’m so grateful for this time with Daniel Lord, and I thank you for all the amazing work you have done in Asia, especially in Korea. Lord, everybody knows that Asia is the center of population. Lord, would you send us a mighty revival? So this, millions of people in Asia may come to know Jesus Christ as their Savior, and Lord, harvest is ready, but the workers are few. Oh Lord, I pray that you will raise up mighty spiritual leaders among young people, Lord, people who think differently from the existing generation, people Lord. So with many, many innovative ideas, Lord, these evangelists all over Asia will rise up and transform their nations and get ourselves, get the continent ready for the second coming of Jesus Christ to this task we commit ourselves. Use us for that purpose and glorify yourself as you use us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (22:48):
Amen. Dr. Chung, thank you for being on the Evangelism
Evangelist David Chung (22:52):
Podcast. What? Thank you.
